Patent Application
20070121300
The present invention relates generally to a back plate assembly, and more particularly to a back plate assembly which is pre-assembled to a motherboard to facilitate mounting of a heat sink assembly to the motherboard.
Computer electronic devices such as central processing units (CPUs) frequently generate large amounts of heat, which can destabilize operation and cause damage to the electronic devices. A heat sink is placed in thermal contact with an electronic device for transferring heat from the electronic device to atmosphere through conduction and convection. Modern heat sinks are being made larger and larger. Therefore, a back plate is often attached on an underside of a motherboard below an electronic device mounted on the motherboard. The back plate reinforces the motherboard and facilitates the mounting of the heat sink to the motherboard so that the heat sink can have an intimate contact with the electronic device.
In assembly, the heat sink assembly 10 is attached on the motherboard 14 with the poles 12 extending through the through holes of the motherboard 14. The back plate 1 is then attached to an underside of the motherboard 14, with the cutouts 4 of the back plate 1 in communication with the corresponding through holes of the motherboard 14. The poles 12 extend through the corresponding cutouts 4. Screws 16 are then extended through the corresponding cutouts 4 to engage in the hollow poles 12 thereby screwing the back plate 1 to the poles 12.
The back plate 1, the screws 16, the heat sink assembly 10 and the motherboard 14 are separated from each other before they are assembled together. None of them can be preassembled beforehand. This is disadvantageous in view of inventory management and transportation. Furthermore, the process of assembling the back plate 1, the screws 16, the heat sink assembly 10 and the motherboard 14 is time-consuming and inconvenient.
A back plate assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a back plate, four posts and four plastic rings. The back plate abuts against an underside of a motherboard. The posts extend from the back plate and pass through the motherboard. The rings engage with the posts respectively and elastically abut against an upside of the motherboard. The posts form threaded portions at upper ends thereof. A plurality of fixing components are brought to extend through a heat sink assembly to threadedly engage with the threaded portions thereby securing the heat sink assembly to the motherboard so that the heat sink assembly can effectively take heat away from a heat generating electronic component mounted on the mother board.
Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
Referring to
Each post 160 comprises a head portion 162, a pole portion 164, a neck portion 166 and a threaded portion 168 extending from the neck portion 166. The pole portion 164 extends from the head portion 162 and has a diameter less than a diameter of the head portion 162. The neck portion 166 extends from the pole portion 164 and has a diameter less than the diameter of the pole portion 164 and a diameter of the threaded portion 168. For the back plate assembly 10, a distance between the neck portion 166 and the insulated slice 140 of the back plate 110 is substantially equal to a thickness of the motherboard 200. The threaded portion 168 is substantially a hollow cylinder and forms a spiral thread on an inner wall thereof. Referring to
Each elastic ring 180 is an open C-shaped ring. The rings 180 can be elastically expanded in a radial direction when an expanding force in the radial direction is applied to them, so that the elastic rings 180 are capable of engaging with the neck portions 166 of the posts 160, respectively. The elastic rings 180 have a slight degree of deformability. In the preferred embodiment, the elastic rings 180 are made of plastic material. An inner diameter of each elastic ring 180 is substantially smaller than the diameter of each neck portion 166 and an outer diameter of each elastic ring 180 is substantially larger than a diameter of each aperture of the motherboard 200 before the elastic rings 180 are brought to clasp the neck portions 166, so that the elastic rings 180 can securely engage with the neck portions 166 to be combined to the posts 160 and elastically abut against the upside of the motherboard 200.
Particularly referring to
It is clearly shown that the elastic rings 180 can have the back plate assembly 100 to be pre-assembled to the motherboard 200. This is advantageous in view of inventory management and transportation of the back plate assembly 100 and the motherboard 200. Since the back plate assembly 100 can be pre-assembled to the motherboard 200, the heat sink assembly 400 can be secured to the motherboard 200 so long as the fixing components 300 are brought to extend through ears (not labeled) of a heat sink (not labeled) of the heat sink assembly 400 and threadedly engage in the threaded portions 168 of the posts 160. The present invention dramatically simplifies the assembly process of fixing the heat sink assembly 400 to the motherboard 200. Additionally, since the elastic rings 180 are elastic, they can absorb excessive force exerted on the back plate 110 and the motherboard 200 to protect the back plate 110 and the motherboard 200 from being damaged.
It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.
